Hold overs

Kinda busy. Some notables in the meantime:

* Jim Holt in the LRB: "Iraq is 'unwinnable', a 'quagmire', a 'fiasco': so goes the received opinion. But there is good reason to think that, from the Bush-Cheney perspective, it is none of these things. Indeed, the US may be 'stuck' precisely where Bush et al want it to be."

* A surprise: it's looking like Blackwater will eventually get run out of Iraq, to be replaced with some other mercenary private security forces.

* Not a surprise: Turkey's threatening to ramp up its incursions into northern Iraq.

* Check the latest on the beating of Iran war drums via Jim Lobe and Alastair Crooke. Also be sure to take note of Putin's chess moves, which are very significant.

* Yes, the "Annapolis summit" is probably bound to fail. The only real question is what will Israel's excuse be this time around, although Uri Avnery has a pretty good bead on it.

* On a related note, Dugard has thrown his hat in with De Soto. (If you're an American, you're probably like, "Who the hell are Dugard and De Soto?")

* Frontline's latest on Cheney covered little new ground, but it might be worth a look if the mere utterance of the words "Addington," "torture memos," and "signing statements" doesn't make your blood boil.

* Some more important news about US gov't snooping has appeared lately, suggesting again that what we currently know about these efforts is merely the tip of a massive iceberg.

* Nostalgic for the age of the robber barons? You're in luck. Put another way: "What do Brazil, Mexico, Russia and the USA have in common?"

* More or less, the US now has its own version of the UK's Stern Report on climate change.

* An ever-burning question: Who's the Daddy?